


Bullseye

by AlpacaSoon



Series: Fire Emblem Heroes Drabbles [5]
Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: Again IDK what to tag, But I wanted a poignant ninja guy and KAZE ISN'T HERE YET, Gaius is probably extremely OOC, Gen, Kiran is as weak as a noodle, Kiran is genderless, Knives, NO graphic depictions of violence or blood, Weaponry, but no violence, really - Freeform, they/them pronouns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 16:01:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13368195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlpacaSoon/pseuds/AlpacaSoon
Summary: Kiran really wasn't cut out for attacking.





	Bullseye

It was to be expected—If you’re in a war, you should learn how to defend yourself, no matter where you are on the battlefield.

For Kiran, it was a little harder.

They came from a world where war was simply something they learned about in history. There was always the threat of it, yes, but it wasn’t particularly tangible. There was law enforcement and the army anyways as well.

There was also the thing where the weapons in Askr were a little… Well, old-fashioned.

But war was war, and Kiran was going to learn how to fight, whether they liked it or not.

 

* * *

 

Kiran stared down at the practice sword in their hand. “So, what am I going to do with this?”

“We’ll just go through some beginning practice drills to give you some experience.” Alfonse gestured with his own sword. “Who knows, you might be inclined to use this.” 

“I honestly doubt that,” Kiran whispered under their breath, yet still followed Alfonse’s directions on a proper sword stance.

They hadn’t even gone through any practice fights yet still left the day black and blue due to them tripping over their own feet and sword and slamming into the ground.

 

* * *

 

“Maybe you’ll be better with the lance!” Sharena said cheerfully. “Here, take this!”

She tossed the lance at Kiran. They barely managed to catch it, and the sudden weight made them fall backwards. Needless to say, lance training did not work for them.

 

* * *

 

Kiran spent a few short minutes with Anna before they both decided that the axe was far too heavy for them to lift. Kiran left to go find Lyn.

 

* * *

 

“Now, lift your arms and pull the bowstring—ahh, not that much!” 

Lyn had been ecstatic to train her precious summoner on the ways of the bow, but it was… Difficult, to say the least. 

Kiran sighed, putting down the bow. “Maybe I’m just not cut out for this sort of stuff, Lyn.”

“Nonsense! You need to learn how to defend yourself, and shooting the bow will come easily after a little bit of practice! Come, try again.”

 

* * *

 

After nearly taking out Niles’ other eye, Kiran trooped off to find Saizo, wondering if perhaps they could at least learn some knife work. They were good at cutting fruits, that could count as some experience, right? 

Saizo stared at them for a good long 10 seconds before vanishing.

Well, fine then.

 

* * *

 

It was always the best for last, Kiran thought, vibrating with excitement as they waited for Julia. Call them idealistic, but they had always wanted to learn magic. Even in their old world, the thought of attacking enemies with magic, having control of the elements and more at their fingertips—! Kiran cupped their face, suppressing a small sound of excitement. This _had_ to work!

“Oh, Kiran!” Julia called out as she approached the tactician. “Sorry, it took me a while to find Nino’s old wind tome. Now, are you ready? Here we go…”

 

* * *

 

Kiran sighed, kicking a pebble on the training grounds. Night had fallen, and only a few torches and the stars transformed the black shadows into dark blues. Of _course_ magic hadn’t worked for them. Try as they might, they couldn’t conjure up the simplest breeze. The healing staff they’d borrowed from Lissa refused to cooperate. Heck, probably even a monkey had more magical ability than them!

They kicked around the pebble a bit more before pausing, deep in thought. Suddenly, with an angry cry, they grabbed a knife from the rack on the wall and flung it across the grounds. It buried itself dead center of a target, but Kiran couldn’t find it in themself to feel proud.

What had they been thinking? Magic would never work for them, it was physically impossible. They came from a time where technology replaced the need for spells, where fantasy was pushed aside for reality. With that last finishing blow, they knew they had failed. Everyone’s pitying gaze as their precious summoner continuously screwed up over and over, never finding the right weapon. With this, they were just another burden. Kiran could feel tears pricking the back of their eyes, yet refused to cry. It would just be useless, another burden, their feelings far too sensitive…

“Woah.” A voice sounded from the shadows, and Kiran almost literally leaped a mile into the air. Almost. It was more of a quick hop as they spun around with a startled squeak. Gaius emerged from the dark, a brow quirked in interest. “That wasn’t even a throwing knife and you still tossed it like a pro.”

“Oh… Uh.” Kiran sputtered oh-so-intelligently, waving their arms in the air. “It was… Was probably just a lucky throw. I’m not… Not that great at, uh, weaponry. Really.”

“Stop talking crap.” Gaius said patiently, walking over and slapping a throwing knife into Kiran’s hand. “Throw.” 

“Uh.”

“Right foot back, deep breath, relax shoulders, step and throw.” 

Kiran, deciding to humor Gaius, followed his directions and flung the knife.

Gaius whistled. “Not bad. Not bullseye, but pretty damn close. Good job, kid—“

“You’re like, only a few years older than me.”

“—don’t know why everyone’s been talking about how you would need more defense on the battlefield. We could arm you with a set of knives, stick you on the battlefield, and hop off to have a cup of tea. You could win this war for us.” 

“I’m… Flattered, Gaius, but you don’t need to go so far for me.” Kiran said with a bitter smile. 

“Are you kidding? I’m being totally serious here.” 

Kiran sighed. “I’m not as great as you think I am. I don’t have any abilities at all. I can’t wield anything heavier than a stick, magic refuses to cooperate with me, and I guess the only good thing about me is my luck, judging by my throws. But even that’s bound to run out soon.”

“Hey.” Gaius tapped Kiran’s cheek. “No more tears.”

“Oh—I was cry—“ 

“Shush now.” Gaius popped a chocolate lollipop into Kiran’s mouth before they could continue. “Now, listen here. Not everyone here is born with the ability of just magically wield their weapon of choice from the moment they were born. You heard of Chrom? Heard he got his butt kicked around by Frederick a bunch before he could wield the Falchion properly. And magic? You could give me a fire tome and all I would be able to do with it is use it for kindling. Or maybe pawn it off to a mage. Don’t beat yourself up over every little thing, kiddo.”

“Will you _please_ —“

“Fine. I’ll call you Chocolate." 

“What the _fu—“_  

“Mm, right. Too long. How about Choc? Or Choco? Nah, Choc sounds better.” 

“Gaius.”

“Right. Too off topic. Anyways, what I’m saying is that not everyone has a talent for everything. But they have a talent for _something_. And you just need to find that something. Don’t kill yourself agonizing over your failures. Pride yourself over your successes instead.”

“…” 

“…”

“You can be very poignant at times.”

“Having real world experience makes you like that, Choc.”

 “Y’know, Saizo refused to even talk to me after I asked him to train me on how to throw knives and kunai and all that.” 

“Pfft, who needs to listen to that grandpa? Hey, that reminds me. Apparently his kid looks just like me…”

“Yeah.” Kiran felt their lips twitch at the thought of Asugi and Gaius seeing each other one day. “But, will you help me?”

“Don’t even need to ask.”

 

* * *

 

A few days later, the rest of the army could breathe easily as Kiran stood on the battlefield, ready to defend themself with the set of knives they kept in their pocket.

**Author's Note:**

> Does Gaius ever give Kiran a nickname? I haven't used him yet, so I don't know what he chats about in the castle, so IDK. I just had my Kiran nicknamed "Chocolate" here because it's cute and it was spur of the moment (because they were munching on Gaius' candy.)
> 
> Sooo, I'm back at it again! I went on a writing spree and actually wrote three fics for FEH today, but the other two are meh so I'm still pondering the verdict on those two.
> 
> Fun fact: I actually have terrible aim, but although this Kiran is based on me, I gave them better aim so they can at least defend themselves a bit. They are based on me though, so that's why they can't use anything heavy, like swords. Also, they can't use magic because I'm evil that way and want them to suffer.
> 
> Uh oh.
> 
> Also, as said in the tags, Gaius gets very poignant in here. Don't ask why Gaius—'twas spur of the moment. Although I do want my seaweed ninja husband (Kaze) to make it into FEH...
> 
> But I do have my killer bow waifu (Bow!Lyn), so I don't really need him. Lyn is great. I'm so glad she was my first summoned hero (I had that special Brave Heroes summoning thing for new players when I joined).
> 
> Another quick question: How old is Gaius? Kiran in here is around early 20's...
> 
> I'm probably just rambling now. Thanks for reading! If you liked it, don't be afraid to leave kudos/comments!
> 
> P.S: GAIUS' ADVICE IS VERY IMPORTANT. TO EVERYONE WHO HAS LOW SELF-ESTEEM/ANXIETY: PLEASE DON'T HURT YOURSELF OVER YOUR FAILURES. YOU ALL ARE BEAUTIFUL AND SMART, AND THE WORLD IS JUST A LITTLE SLOW TO PICK UP ON THAT. CHINS UP, BUTTERCUPS!


End file.
